Internet, World Wide Web, etc.

http://www.nmnh.si.edu is the World Wide Web site of the Smithsonian Institution. Select botany and publications to access the Biological Conservation Newsletter (PPH 1:21).  

http://www.panda.org is the site of WWF, one of the world’s largest independent conservation organizations. It provides information on various aspects of conservation, including forests, climate change, marine issues, pollution, species and sustainable development.  

http://www.cep.unt.edu/isee.html is a site of the International Society of Environmental Ethics. It provides access to a large bibliographic database on environmental ethics which can be searched by name, title or keyword.  

http://treesandpeople.irdc.slu.se is the homepage of the Forest, Trees and People Programme (FTPP), where you find out about the FTP Newsletter and the FTPP regional centers.  

http://www.science.siu.edu/herbarium/index.html is the site of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale Herbarium; it includes information on ethnobotany.  

http://www.science.siu.edu/seb/index.html is the homepage of the Society for Economic Botany (PPH 1:10).  

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The People and Plants Bookshelf

    Baumann, M., J. Bell, F. Koechlin and M. Pimbert. 1996. The Life Industry: Biodiversity, People and Profits. Intermediate Technology Publications, London. Produced by WWF and SWISSAID, this volume brings together the contributions of the main speakers and other participants of Patents, Genes and Butterflies, an international symposium on the uses and abuses of biodiversity, held in Berne, Switzerland from 20-21 October 1994.  

    Bevis, W.W. 1995. Borneo Log: the Struggle for Sarawak’s Forests. University of Washington Press, Seattle. Winner of the 1995 Western States Book Award in Creative Nonfiction, Borneo Log is the journal of an English professor who travels through Sarawak, Malaysia, observing local peoples’ struggles to maintain their traditional lifestyles and access to resources in the face of rapid economic and social change. Bevis succeeds in providing an original, informative and readable perspective on tropical deforestation.  

    Chadwick, D.J. and J. Marsh, editors. 1994. Ethnobotany and the Search for New Drugs. CIBA Foundation Symposium 185. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. This book presents perspectives from botanists, phytochemists, lawyers, pharmaceutical industry representatives and others on empirical and ethical issues related to developing pharmaceutical products from plants. The Ciba Foundation is an international scientific and educational charity, established in 1947 by the Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical company CIBA Limited, now called Ciba-Geigy Limited. It organizes about eight international multidisciplinary symposia each year on topics of relevance to biological, medical and chemical research. The contributed papers and discussions are published in the Ciba Foundation Symposium Series. Contact: Derek J. Chadwick, CIBA Foundation, 41 Portland Place, London W1N 4BN, UK.  

    Kane, J. 1995. Savages. A.A. Knopf, New York. Advertised as a first-hand account “of how one small band of Amazonian warriors defended their territory against hell-bent oil companies, dogged missionaries and starry-eyed environmentalists”, this book by journalist Joe Kane relates the struggle of the Huaorani Indians as they seek to maintain land and resource rights in the Ecuadorian Amazon.       

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Publishers

    The United Nations University Press is the publishing division of the United Nations University (UNU), an organ of the United Nations established by the General Assembly in 1972 to be an international community of scholars engaged in research, advanced training and the dissemination of knowledge related to the pressing global concerns of human survival, development and welfare. The UNU Press publishes scholarly books and periodicals in social sciences, humanities and pure and applied natural sciences related to the University’s research. Titles of special interest include: In Place of the Forest: Environmental and Socio-economic Transformation in Borneo and the Eastern Malay Peninsula, edited by Harold Brookfield, Lesley Potter and Yvonne Byron; and The Fragile Tropics of Latin America: Sustainable Management of Changing Environments, edited by Toshie Nishzawa and Juha I. Uitto. Contact: The United Nations University, 53-70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150, Japan; Tel. +81.3.34992811,  Fax +81.3.34067345  

    Intermediate Technology Publications Limited is the publishing arm of the Intermediate Technology Development Group. Titles cover a wide range of topics, including agriculture, agroforestry, education, rural and development issues. Of particular interest is The IT Studies in Indigenous Knowledge and Development Series, which highlights contributions made by indigenous knowledge systems to local, national and international development. The first three books in this series are entitled: The Cultural Dimension of Development. Indigenous Knowledge Systems edited by Michael D. Warren, L. Jan Slikkerveer and David Brokensha; Facing Kirinyaga. A Social History of Forest Commons in Southern Mount Kenya by Alfonso Peter Castro; and Indigenous Organizations and Development by Peter Blunt and D. Michael Warren. Contact: Intermediate Technology Publications Limited, 103-105 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4HH, UK;  Tel. +44.171.4369761, Fax +44.171.4362013, e-mail itpubs@gn.apc.org  

    Zed Books, Ltd. has been publishing books on key international issues for almost two decades. Recent books on biodiversity and biotechnology include Genetic Resources: a Practical Guide to Their Conservation by Daniel Querol, The Gene Hunters: Biotechnology and the Scramble for Seeds by Calestous Juma and Overcoming Illusions about Biotechnology: the Implications of Genetic Engineering for Agriculture by Nicanor Perlas. For more information, or to request the catalogs Zed Books on the Environment and Development and Zed Books New Titles Series, contact: Zed Books Ltd., 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK; Tel. +44.171.8374014 or 8378466, Fax +44.171.8333960. In the USA contact: Humanities Press International, 165 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 07716, USA; Tel. +1.908.8721441, Fax +1.908.8720717     

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Declarations,  Guidelines and Policies

    The Declaration of Belém was proclaimed at the closing of the First International Congress of Ethnobiology in Belém, Brazil in 1988 (see PPH 1:8). It has served to guide members of the International Society of Ethnobiology in ethical practices that lead to equal and meaningful partnerships between indigenous and traditional peoples, and specialists trained in a Western scientific tradition. The Declaration is an historic document, in that for the first time protection of Intellectual Property Rights for traditional knowledge is recognized as a principal aim for an international scientific society. Return of information to communities in a useful form, as well as the necessity of respect for local customs, practices and lifestyles, are other essential elements of the Declaration. It has been printed in many publications, including Posey, D.A. and G. Dutfield. 1996. Beyond Intellectual Property Rights: Protection, Compensation and Community Empowerment. IDRC, Ottawa.  

    The Manila Declaration concerning the ethical utilization of Asian biological resources was developed at the Seventh Asian Symposium on Medicinal Plants, Spices and other Natural Products (ASOMPS VII), held in Manila, Philippines from 2-7 February 1992. The Declaration has been published, with the support of UNESCO, by: Regional Network for the Chemistry of Natural Products in Southeast Asia, Department of Chemistry, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. The Melaka Accord, which builds on the Manila Declaration, was ratified by participants in ASOMPS VIII, held in Melaka, Malaysia from 12-16 June 1994.  

    WWF International has published a range of discussion papers which present guidelines on some of the legal and ethical issues surrounding conservation. As well as clarifying WWF’s position, these papers seek to contribute to ongoing debates on these issues and to help improve policy and legislation in this field. They include: Cunningham, A.B. 1993. Ethics, Ethnobiological Research, and Biodiversity (out of print). WWF International Position Paper; Shelton, D. 1995. Fair Play, Fair Pay: Laws to Preserve Traditional Knowledge and Biological Resources. WWF International Research Report; Laird, S. 1995. Fair Deals in the Search for New Natural Products. WWF International Discussion Paper.; and Anonymous. 1996. Indigenous Peoples and Conservation: WWF Statement of Principles. WWF International Position Paper. Contact: Andy Pattison, Information Centre, WWF-International, Avenue du Mont Blanc, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland; Tel. +41.22.3649558, Fax +41.22.3645358, e-mail andy.pattison@lan.wwf.ch  

    The Chiang Mai Declaration on saving lives by saving plants, which reaffirms commitment to primary health care, principles of conservation and sustainable development, was prepared by health professionals and plant conservation specialists who attended the WHO-IUCN-WWF International Consultation on Conservation of Medicinal Plants held in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 21-26 March 1988. It was published in Akerele, O., V. Heywood and H. Synge, editors. 1991. Conservation of Medicinal Plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.  

    The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is currently reviewing the implications of the Convention on Biological Diversity for its institutional plant collecting and distribution policy. The issues, which are being addressed by a specialist in international policy, include  stock control, material transfer agreements, and benefit sharing. Contact: Kerry ten Kate, Biodiversity Conventions Officer, Conventions and Policy Section, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK; Tel. +44.181.3325741, Fax +44.181.3325757, e-mail k.tenkate@rbgkew.org.uk  

    The Draft Guidelines of Professional Ethics of the Society for Economic Botany (see PPH 1:10) outline the responsibilites of members of the Society to their profession, the people they study, the general public, host governments, host institutions and supporting foundations. The Guidelines were published in volume 7 of Plants & People, the SEB newsletter.  

    The Institute for Sustainable Development (a member of the Third World Network) and the Gaia Foundation have published The Movement for Collective Intellectual Rights (1996) a report on recent initiatives to develop Collective Intellectual Rights (CIRs). These initiatives have arisen because of the need to develop concepts of IPR appropriate to the knowledge systems, values and rights of diverse groups, including indigenous, farming and scientific communities. The case for CIRs is put forward by activists from Ethiopia, India, Malaysia, Colombia and Brazil. Draft legislation for the protection of communities’ intellectual rights and for the control of access to biological resources is also presented. Contact Sue Edwards or Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher, Institute for Sustainable Development, P.O. Box 30231, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;  
Tel. +25.11.204210, Fax +25.11.552350,  e-mail sue@padis.gn.apc.org

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More Journals

    The Journal of Ethnopharmacology is devoted to research on the traditional medicine of past and present cultures. Articles typically focus on ethnopharmacological, ethnobotanical or ethnochemical studies of indigenous drugs. Reports of field work related to ethnobotany or anthropology are also included. Volume 51(1-3), published in April 1996, contains the proceedings of a symposium held by the American Society of Pharmacognosy in 1994 on intellectual property rights, naturally derived bioactive compounds and resource conservation. Contact: Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd., Bay 15, Shannon Industrial Estate, Shannon, Co. Clare, Ireland; Tel. +353.61.471944, Fax +353.61.472144, or Dr D.D. Soejarto, Editorial Secretariat, PCRPS, College of Pharmacy, M/C 877, University of Illinois at Chicago, 833 South Wood Street, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA.  

    Ethnobotany, the journal of the Society of Ethnobotanists (see PPH 1:11) started publication in 1989. The journal includes peer-reviewed research papers, short communications, book reviews and some news of the Society. Because a large amount of traditional knowledge about plants in India exists in Hindi, the national language of India, the editors of Ethnobotany are trying to make it a bilingual journal. Beginning with the fourth volume, abstracts and occasional articles are printed in Hindi. For seven years, the journal has been edited by its founder, S.K. Jain. For editorial matters, contact: Ved Prakash, Botany Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, India. For back volumes and institutional subscriptions, contact: M/S Deep Publications, A-3/27A DDA Flats, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi 110063, India.  

    Natures-Sciences-Sociétés, a French-language quarterly that began in 1995, takes on three challenges: to build an interdisciplinary approach, bring research and action together and establish a link between science and culture. It is the journal of the Association NSS-Dialogues, which encourages interdisciplinary research and debates related to the environment and bio-ethics. Claudine Friedberg, a French ethnobiologist, is on the editorial committee. Recent articles have covered topics that range from the human occupation of protected areas in Madagascar to religious approaches in understanding biodiversity. Contact: Dunod/Gaulthier-Villars, 5 rue Laromiguière, 75005 Paris, France; Tel. +33.1.40466200, Fax +33.1.40466231, e-mail gauthier.villars.publisher@mail.sgip.fr   Internet http://www.gauthier-villars.fr  

    The Biotechnology and Development Monitor reports on the socio-economic impact of biotechnology relevant to developing countries, aiming to cross the boundaries between the social and natural sciences.  Articles describe and analyze trends in biotechnology developments, socio-economic issues and technical research. Announcements, conference reports and book reviews are also included. Recently a readers’ page has been introduced to allow publication of opinion pieces and short reports on personal insights and experiences. The Monitor, a joint publication of the Department of Political Science, University of Amsterdam and the Directorate General for International Cooperation (DGIS) of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been published quarterly since 1989. It is available free of charge. Contact: Biotechnology and Development Monitor, University of Amsterdam, Department of Political Science, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 237, 1012 DL, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Tel. +31.20.525.2177, Fax +31.20.525.2086, e-mail monitor@pscw.uva.nl  Internet http://www.pscw.uva.nl/monitor/

    Volume 4(8) of Biodiversity & Conservation (see PPH 1:15) is dedicated to the ethical implications of applied ecological science.  

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More Newsletters

    The International Society for Environmental Ethics (ISEE) produces a newsletter four times a year. The Society seeks to advance research and education in the field of environmental ethics and philosophy, and to promote appropriate human use, respect, conservation and understanding of the natural world. It has about 500 members from over twenty countries, including philosophers and others interested in environmental issues. For information on the newsletter contact (via e-mail where possible): Jack Weir, Editor, Department of Philosophy, UPO 662, Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky 40351-1689, USA; Tel. +1.606.7840046 or 606.7832785; Fax +1.606.7832678; e-mail iseenewsletter@msuacad.morehead-st.edu or  j.weir@msuacad.morehead-st.edu  

    For membership contact: Professor Laura Westra, Secretary of ISEE, Department of Philosophy, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada; Tel. +1.519.2534232, Fax +1.519.9737050. Further details, including information on the Society, back issues of the newsletter and an Environmental Ethics Bibliography, can be found at WWW site - http://www.cep.unt.edu/isee.html

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